6.21.2012

WAKE UP BROOKLYN! TUESDAY JUNE 26 VOTE OR DIE

Just in case you didn't get the memo; just in case you haven't been keeping up with time it is, I am going to take the opportunity to say WAKE UP BROOKLYN - Your lives are on the line - Literally.

Perhaps the most pivotal date, prior to the actual general election, will take place on Tuesday, June 26, which is the day we vote for our new congressman - either Charles Barron or Hakeem Jeffries; and re-elect our congresswoman Yvette Diane Clarke.

By the way, gone are the 9th, 10th, and 11th Congressional districts you are accustomed to. Now that the lines have been redrawn, you may find that you're in completely different districts, with completely different congressional candidates to vote for - so check to see if you are in the 7th, 8th or 9th. Manhattan check for the 13th, which combines several districts. Make sure you check out who is running in your community, so that you don't pull the lever for the wrong candidate, or end up at the wrong polling place.

With the Rep-ugh-blicans trying to institute voter nullification, you have to do your own due diligence to make sure you're not a victim instead of a victor.

This is no time for a day at the beach; this is no time for sleeping in, or going about business as usual. Yes we can still celebrate Black Music Month, Caribbean Heritage Month, and all the other good stuff.

But we also have to remember we have a job to do and we can't be weighed in the balance and found wanting AGAIN!!

You need to get to those poles as though you are voting to re-elect President Obama, because this is a precursor to his re-election on November 7, 2012. You have to vote as though your very lives depend on it, because, in point of fact, it absolutely, positively does.Don't get it twisted - EVERYTHING WE DO FROM THIS POINT FORWARD COUNTS AND MAKES A DIFFERENCE IN WHAT HAPPENS IN THE FUTURE OF BROOKLYN, OF NEW YORK CITY, AND IN THE FUTURE OF THE UNITED STATES. Make no mistake about it.And if you think it doesn't matter, just look at what happened as a result of the lack of cooperation during the 2010 Census. The very real effects of losing a whole seat in Congress, budgetary cutbacks, and a string of other negative consequences are because we sat back and did not take care of business.

Look at what happened when we didn't show up at the polls for the Mayoral Election!

I know you folks don't like to hear this; I know it's easy to point fingers of blame at everybody else. But we are the largest borough, with the largest Black population. We have a big responsibility to not let each other down. The thing to do now is learn from this harsh lesson, go forward and not let it happen again on our watch.

So ministers - this Sunday in your churches, make sure in your sermons you tell your congregation to get out and vote; community leaders, make sure you're going door to door to make sure those who need help can get to the polls. Seniors, if you need assistance, call your local center, or your Assemblymember or your City Council Representative.

This is no time to stand on ceremony. This is absolutely imperative that everybody who is breathing votes.

And for you first time voters, 18 and over, you are pivotal in this upcoming election. Make it your business to show up and make your vote count.

For those of you old enough to remember, it's only been since 1965 that Black people had the right to vote in many parts of the US. There were actually people who fought and died to make sure you had the right. You have absolutely a responsibility to make sure they did not sacrifice their lives in vain for you.

For you newly minted citizens, who have had the good sense to register to vote, don't be shy about asking where the polling places are, and getting your neighbors to assist you.

Not only is this a wake up call for BROOKLYN, but for all the boroughs - for the nation. While this message is aimed toward Black people and people of color, I am also urging all American citizens not to leave your right to a country that works for all of us on the table. Democracy is under siege, and if we don't stand up, we get what we deserve.

I am patently partisan in my stand - totally on the Democratic line, so don't even ask me who the Rep-ugh-blican candidates are. We don't have the luxury of equivocating. We've already had the bitter taste of what it's like to do otherwise. They've pretty much put the brakes on the good that President Obama is trying to do.

College students especially should be making sure that a Democrat majority is in congress, now that the Rep-ugh-blicans have tried to hi-jack your financial aid and your right to a decent education. The fact that they are trying to keep you from voting in the community where you attend college should indicate that they mean you absolutely no good whatsoever.

If there are other primaries in other states where you have relatives, friends, acquaintances, please make sure you reach out to them and insist they get up and that they take the time to vote.

We've got too much at stake.

Below are a list of the candidates running on the Democratic party line for the State of New York:

DISTRICT 7thCOUNTIES: PART OF KINGS, PART OF NEW YORK & PART OF QUEENSCANDIDATES:DANIEL J. O'CONNOR – NEW YORK 10022GEORGE MARTINEZ - BROOKLYN 11233NYDIA M. VELAZQUEZ – BROOKLYN 11231ERIK MARTIN DILAN – BROOKLYN 11207

DISTRICT 8thCOUNTIES: PART OF KINGS AND PART OF QUEENSCANDIDATES:HAKEEM S. JEFFRIES - BROOKLYN 11238CHARLES BARRON – BROOKLYN 11207

DISTRICT 13THCOUNTIES: PART OF BRONX & PART OF NEW YORKCANDIDATES:CHARLES B. RANGELJOYCE S. JOHNSONCRAIG SCHLEYCLYDE EDWARD WILLIAMS, JR.ADRIANO ESPAILLATOFFICE: REPRENTATIVE IN CONGRESSDISTRICT 16THCOUNTIES: PART OF BRONX & PART OF WESTCHESTERCANDIATES:ELLIOT L. ENGELANIELLO GRIMALDI

The Above Candidates were certified by the Board of Elections as of May 22, 2012

New York is the tail that wags the dog; we are the financial, cultural and intellectual capital of the world. We, however, have let ourselves be hijacked by deep pocket, fast talking, megalomaniacal despots, instead of standing up for what we know is right.

Time to draw that line in the sand and make sure we emerge victorious - so when the smoke clears we've gotten our state and community back.

See you at the polls, TUESDAY, JUNE 26 - DON'T KEEP THIS INFO TO YOURSELVES. PASS IT ON. MAKE IT VIRAL. Stay Blessed &ECLECTICALLY BLACKGloria Dulan-Wilson